Finger-guide for musical instruments.



No. 656,9l7. Patented Aug. 28, I900v W. WIGHT.

FINGER GUIDE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

(Application filed July 11, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-WILLIAM WIGHT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

FINGER-GUIDE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 656,917, dated August 28, 1900. Application filed July 11, 1899. Serial No. 723,515. (No model.)

To all whom it nuty concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM VVIOHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Finger-Guides for Musical Instruments; and I do declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to finger-guides for musical instruments, adapted more particularly to the mandolin or the violin, but which need not necessarily be limited to these instruments; and the object of the invention is to provide a method or system of notation especially for the instruments named, and which is at once so simple and so easy to comprehend and follow that a beginner can take it up and speedily become proficient as a player without oral instruction and without help other than is contained in the matter furnished under this system.

Heretoforeit may be said to have been the universal practice to have a special tutor and the pupil has been subjected to a long period of familiarizing or acquaintance with the in strument, involving what to him was only a humdrum practice of the most tiresome kind, and largely because it was a mere repetition of tiresome sounds and without harmony or pleasure to the ear. Hence only a comparatively-small per cent. of beginners have had the courage to go forward and complete the studies upon which they had hopefully entered. By my system I introduce the instrument to the beginners hands with notes of melody and seek to employ this popular and enjoyable medium as an encouragement and incentive to him to go forward to the mastery of the instrument. By this means also he is enabled to note his progress and proficiency, and every improvement he makes he can see and find in it the stimulus to further and better endeavor. This practice thus obtained will also impress upon the students mind in the quickest manner the complete scale of music and the position of notes or sounds on the instrument.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the extremity of the neck of a mandolin carrying my new finger-guide, and hereinafter whenever the instrument is referred to it will be understood to mean a mandolin unless otherwise specially mentioned. Fig. 2 is a View of one end of a piece of music on which my new method of notation is illustrated in part; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of my finger-guide separate from the instrument and containing the interpreting notations for Fig. 2, whereby those appearing in the music are found and fingered out correctly on the instrument, whether mandolin or other string instrument, adapted to utilize or embody the invention.

Having in view now the object of the invention, the means employed involve, primarily, any preferred piece of music A-as seen, for example, in Fig. 2, where the usualnotes are employed in the usual way. Over each note, above the staff and clearly visible to facilitate reading, are two figures, one above the other, and below the staff are a capital letter for each note. Now referring to Fig. 3, we have the finger-guide B, so-called because when applied to the neck 0 of the instrument, as seen in Fig. 1, it serves as an easy. and accurate guide to the fingers to sound the note as it is found in turn on sheet A. This chart or guide carries forward the notation begun in Fig. 2 and enables the player at once to locate the note and to do so unerringly. He will at first be slow, necessarily; but if he desires to be always accurate he can be by these means, and from accuracy work up to speed and in this way unconsciously acquire the skill he is seeking.

Fig. 1 represents the neck 0 of what is understood to be a mandolin equipped with the usual strings arbitrarily numbered here 1, 2, 3, and 4 to correspond to the upper numbers on the music and which represent the strings to be played. The lower figures on the music indicate the frets, likewise numbered for the purposes of this description 1 2 3, &c., successively, as shown. The letters G 'F E, &c., indicate or represent the note to be played and are correspondingly present in both the sheet of music and the finger-guide or chart B. Thus the music to be played and the instrument itself are brought together in harmonious relation through these like characters on both, and it only remains for the player to work them out on the strings. In doing this he needs-only his eyes and his fingers and nothing else, and no other teacher or guide is required to enable him to become an accomplished player in a comparativelyshort time, and the simplicity of the operation is obvious. Suppose he begins on the upper staff in the music to play the note 0. He sees by the figures 2 and 3 that he is to play string 2 in fret 3, and these frets may be numbered on his instrument, if preferred,

so that even here he has a character instead of a space to guide him. However, the usual cross-bars separating the frets are deemed a sufficient guide for this purpose. Instantly then he plays the right string in the right fret and articulates the right note. The next play obviouslyis a mere repetition of the first and itis quickly made. Then comes only a change of one fret, and that playis made, and so on, the performance being so simple that a child of ordinary intelligence who knows the characters can speedily acquaint itself with the system and the instrument. Of course the accomplishment of playing involves the touching of the string at. the right place; and the object of this invention is to help the learner to acquire this knowledge with ease and facility. The use of the finger-guide accustoms the eye of the beginner to the ordinary written music and serves also as an indicator that the note was played right, thus giving confidence and satisfaction in the work. It also promotes responsiveness between the fingers and eyes as they run over the notes, helping the player at last to find naturally the right place without special thought as to location in string or fretthe result of his accurate practice under this system.

The finger-guide or chart is separately printedand prepared and glued to the fingerboard of the instrument, and on it are represented the staff and the pictures of notes as they appear in written music. In some instances the figures over the notes may be written side by side and they may be reversed as to meaning, so that the upper ones will indicate the fret and the lower ones the string. They might also be brought below the staff in exchange with the letters G F E, &c., or they and the said letters might be placed together above or below the staff. The present arrangement is, however, altogether preferable.

In the foregoing description it will be understood that the strings are numbered from right to left and the frets from end of neck down. There are no numbers shown on the frets corresponding to those over the notes and none are needed as to the strings, and it is optional whether they be placed to indicate the frets. Generally they are not used even if furnished, as the beginner soon acquaints himself with the positions of the frets; but the letters are used by the eye to help find location in the fret and serve to confirm or show the player that he has played aright. For example, suppose he plays D in the upper staff. This letter goes with the numbers 2 and 5 to string 2 and fret 5, and instantly the position of D in that fret tells where to play. It helps even to assure as to the right string and familiarizes the player with the notes and their positions.

VVha-t I claim is- As a new article of manufacture, a fingerguide for inandolins and like instruments, consisting of a flat rigid plate adapted to be removably placed on the neck of the instrument and having on its outer surface a series of subdivisions corresponding to the frets ofthe instrument and the frets thereon forming the lines of said subdivisions, transverse musical staffs in said subdivisions, and notes on said staffs and characters above each staff in each subdivision in line with the notes below to indicate the particular note to be played, substantially as described.

\Vitness my hand to the foregoing specification this 3d day of July, 1890.

WILLIAM \VICIIT. \Vitn esses:

II. T. FISHER, II. E. MUDRA. 

